Rabbi Shay Ohayon of Petach Tikvah was laid to rest in the city on Wednesday, just hours after being murdered by a Palestinian in an apparent terrorist attack.
Ohayon, 39, leaves behind four children and his wife, Sivan. Hundreds of friends and family members attended his funeral.
Ohayon was eulogized by Petach Tikvah Chief Rabbi Micha Halevy, who said, “Rabbi Shay, who was here standing until several hours ago, was a shy person. But today, everyone knows who he was. We want him to pray for all of us.”
Shas Knesset member Uriel Busso also eulogized him, saying: “Everyone is shocked by this tragedy. In recent weeks we have dealt with demolitions of terrorists’ homes, and I know that you would have said that such measures never help.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin sent his condolences to the Ohayon family in a statement on Wednesday, and vowed that the attacker’s punishment would be “most severe.”
“On behalf of all the citizens of Israel, from the bottom of my heart, my condolences to the Ohayon family on the murder of the father of the family, Rabbi Shai, in a stabbing attack today in Petach Tikvah,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement on Wednesday.
“The heart hurts. My wife Sarah and I embrace the family, a wife and four children left fatherless today. We will work to demolish the terrorist’s house and carry out the most severe punishment,” he added.
Ohayon was killed on his way back from a Torah-study institution he was attending, having just gotten off the bus from Kfar Saba. The attacker, a Palestinian from Nablus who reportedly has a mental illness, stabbed him several times and attempted to flee the scene, but was chased by members of the public and ultimately detained by police.
Ohayon was critically wounded and was later pronounced dead in the hospital.
Investigators are looking into the attacker’s background, but it is likely that the attack will be classified as terrorism, which would make Ohayon is the first Israeli to die from a terrorist attack in almost a year.
This is an edited version of an article that first appeared in Israel Hayom.
